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Uranium is a radioactive mineral used to make nuclear weapons. After World War II, the U.S. government provided a reward to anyone who found deposits of it, prompting a nationwide craze on par with the California Gold Rush of the 19th century. Since Moab, Utah is rich with uranium, greedy prospectors flocked to the region, eager to make their fortunes. Alfred T. Husk is Abbey’s prime example of someone who sacrificed love—and his and his son’s lives—to make his fortune this way. Husk’s tragic story, and the uranium craze in general, help illustrate Abbey’s belief that pillaging the earth for financial gain is arrogant and morally wrong.
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Uranium Term Timeline in Desert Solitaire
The timeline below shows where the term Uranium appears in Desert Solitaire. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks
...of Moab (population 5,500) seems bustling and impressive to him. He tends to meet friendly uranium miners in Moab’s bars, not depressed businessmen like one would meet in bars in big...
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Rocks
The most important rock deposit is uranium: in the 1940s, after America’s nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Atomic Energy Commission...
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...Husk allegedly uprooted his family and mortgaged his farm to try his luck with AEC’s uranium scheme in Utah. Setting up his trailer home in Moab, he immediately goes into town...
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...her. Meanwhile, Husk and Billy-Joe spend the whole summer probing the San Rafael Swell for uranium. Finding shade under junipers as they toil along beneath the boiling summer sun, they collect...
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...has now fallen to Mrs. Husk. The land has been found to be rich in uranium. He is reluctant to negotiate, offering only $4,500, and reveals that he works for the...
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Water
...fill his canteen. Many springs, however, are full of poisonous selenium thanks to the region’s uranium deposits. These springs look harmless, indeed crystal-clear, but they’ll kill anyone who drinks from them;...
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Terra Incognita: Into the Maze
...the path becomes more drastically disused. It was once a horse trail, later enlarged by uranium prospectors. Now, all the soil has eroded, exposing bare rock. Not worrying about how to...
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